Send me email updates about messages I've received
on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.By signing up, you certify that
you are female and accept the Terms of Service and have read the
Privacy Policy.

How to not be in horrible pain when waiting for your milk to dry up?

I'm kind of hopping that there is some way to not be in terrible pain when waiting for your milk to dry up if you don't breastfeed your newborn. Last time it wasn't too painful as long as I didn't try to cuddle with my baby.
The problem is that you want to cuddle with your newborn.

Is there anything that can be done to make it less painful especially if the problem is letdown?

I thought they would only give you medication if you chose not to BF at the hospital. I remember both me and my daughter just having to wait it out. I'm sorry. I think you should call and ask the physician on call though.

They won't give medication to suppress milk anymore. I don't breastfeed because I've got some kind of nerve damage so letdown feels like passing broken glass though my milk ducts. It hurts enough I've been known to vomit.

The shot was discontinued due to the side effect of death. You can go on estrogen birth control immediately after giving birth; it will kill supply. YAZ in particular works virtually instantly to do this.

You should know, that wasn't a nerve abnormality; for some women letdown does indeed feel like that for a few weeks, even a few months. (I was in the "months" category.) IT's also pretty common to only happen the first time around, and not be painful the second time when the body knows what it's doing.

@gdiamante I made it to 3 months the first time mostly because of the Percocet from my surgery made it easier but even that only dulled it. Same issue happened after my second baby and even happens randomly sometimes and I dried up almost a year ago. It's almost exactly like the neuropathy in my legs and back.

But whatever it is it's not something I could ever cope with without serious pain relief and that's impossible long term and honestly impractical even in the short.